Recording Device Ban
Recording Device Ban, originally uploaded by TaulPaul.
Friday’s Macy’s Glamorama event is probably one of the most well produced, anticipated, and fun charity events in the Minneapolis / St. Paul metro. This year was no different. We had a great time for a wonderful charity. One thing did change this year.
The Orpheum Theater housed a couple thousand event goers to a specticle of fashion, and A-list performances. I toted along my Canon Vixia HD video camera, and my iPhone 3G to tweet my perspective of the show, with some pictures being uploaded to Twitpic. I was also able to grab some video with my video camera. The unfortunate part of the experience was security’s constant nagging of pictures being taken. I’m accustom to this experience, as it happens all the time. I’ve been asked to stop taking pictures and video in all sorts of different establishments, and always comply. I personally was never asked to stop recording at the Glamorama event, but always wonder why the policy is never made clear from the get-go. Like the sign illustrates above, as an establishment, you must set an expectation to a have grievance. This year’s security personnel finally gave up. Unlike previous events in the last couple years, the shear volume of patrons recording and documenting their experience was too vast to control. The entire row of 20-something women in front of me, each had a device, recording their experience at will. That was about a dozen people to try and control. It was literally impossible for security to make them all stop, so they basically quit asking. That was the first experience of mine where this has happened, and wonder if this is the first step into a more open experience for people to freely document their experiences at concerts and events.
Have you had similar experiences?
Update: To be clear. The point of this post is not to pick on the staff at the Orpheum or organizers of Glamorama, as this experience is pretty normal for all concerts and events. The purpose is to open a dialogue about how this experience needs to change.
